部
Components

Point of interest: 足(あし)

POI
足(あし)
foot or leg?
171 words
あし
足
is used to refer to both 'foot' and 'leg', so without context, it can sometimes be unclear which is being referred to, or how to specify which you mean!
In some cases, the context makes the choice more straightforward:
いもうと
妹
は
あし
足
が
なが
長
い
。
My sister has long legs.
It is certainly possible the sister has 'long feet', but rather unlikely.
かれ
彼
は
あし
足
で
みず
水
に
ふ
触
れてみた
。
He touched the water with his foot.
It would be hard to touch the water with your leg first.
かのじょ
彼女
の
こっせつ
骨折
した
あし
足
はまだ
なお
治
っていない
。
Her broken leg has not healed yet.
In this case, however, without further context, we cannot be sure whether it was a broken foot or a broken leg.
For this reason, it is often necessary to use a more specific body part to pin things down - so it's helpful to know the words for ankle (
あしくび
足首
(literally, 'neck of the leg'), calf (ふくらはぎ), knee (ひざ) and thigh (もも) for example.
One delightful 足-based phrase is the word for 'toes' -
あし
足
の
ゆび
指
(literally, 'the fingers of your foot'). When we refer to the fingers of the hand, it is not uncommon to hear
て
手
の
ゆび
指
, but it is not at all necessary.

Kanji used in this point of interest

足
ソク   あし foot; leg   たす to add   たる    たりる to be sufficient   
首
シュ   くび neck; head   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
指
シ   ゆび finger   さす to point   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
手
シュ   hand   て    た-    
妹
マイ   いもうと younger sister   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
長
チョウ   ながい long   
彼
ヒ   かれ he   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
水
スイ   みず water   
触
ショク   ふれる    さわる to touch   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
女
ジョ   ニョ   ニョウ   woman; female   おんな woman   め woman   
骨
コツ   ほね bone   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
折
セツ   おる to break, fold   おり opportunity; fold   おれる to break (intr), be folded, yield   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
治
ジ   チ   おさめる to govern   おさまる to be at peace   なおる to get better   なおす to cure   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
Problem with this point of interest? Question or comment? Please CONTACT US.
Kanshudo is your AI Japanese tutor, and your constant companion on the road to mastery of the Japanese language. To get started learning Japanese, just follow the study recommendations on your Dashboard. You can use Quick search (accessible using the icon at the top of every page) to look up any Japanese word, kanji or grammar point, as well as to find anything on Kanshudo quickly. For an overview, take the tour.
×